Seed-potato cutter.



B. P. COBB.

SEED POTATO BUTTER.

APPLlCATlON FILED 024.1015.

Patented Sept. 12, 1916.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN' P. COBB, OF BOZEMAN, MONTANA.

SEED-POTATO CUTTER.

Application filed December 24, 1915.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, BENJAMIN P. Conn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bozeman, in the county of Gallatin and State of Montana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Seed-Potato Cutters, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in seed-potato-cutters, and the object is to provide means for quickly and conveniently cutting the potatoes into parts, and then brushing them aside into the receptacle in which they are to be held.

lVith this object in view, this invention comprises a base having an orifice therethrough, in which is located a movable support for the potato, a treadle pivoted to the base for raising and lowering the potatosupport, and a lever carrying the knives or cutters pivotally supported at one end to the base, with the knives intersecting approximately at the center of the orifice in the base, and adapted to strike the treadle when lowered to raise the potato-support.

It further consists in an incline at one side over which the lever is slid laterally, and by which it is raised from the base when so slid in the act of sweeping the potatoes from the base.

In the accompanying drawings :-Figure 1 is a plan view; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view; and Fig. 3 is an end elevation, the lever 5 being shown in section.

A, represents the base, and l is an orifice at or near the center thereof.

The numeral 2 represents a treadle fulcrumed on the lower side of the base, and extending beneath the orifice and adapted to support and raise and lower the plug 4 resting loosely in the orifice and designed to receive and support the potato to be cut.

The numeral 5 represents a lever pivoted at one end to a bracket 6 to permit it to be raised and lowered, and the bracket 6 is swiveled on a post or bolt 8, thus giving the lever a sort of a universal joint connection with the post or bolt, permitting it to swing laterally and also vertically. A nut 9 on the upper threaded end of the bolt holds the bracket thereon. The hand-lever 5 is of sufficient length to give it the required weight and leverage. The lever is spread out at one point to form a more or less O-shaped frame 10, and the ends of the knives or cutters 11, 11, are secured in the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 12, 1916.

Serial No. 68,511.

diametrically opposite cutter-recesses 12 of this frame by means of the bolts or rivets or equivalent means 13. v

The knives or cutters might be variously constructed, for instance of a single crossshaped piece, or they could be made in two, three or four parts as desired, and they can be sharpened by simply raising the lever and filing the edges without removing the cutters from the frame.

The treadle is provided with a trip 14 at its outer end, which preferably stands adj acent to the end of the base, in position to be struck by the hand-lever as the latter is being lowered and the potato is being sliced, and, when so struck, the treadle is swung from its normal position, and the plug 4 with the potato thereon is raised to meet the knives or cutters at their point of intersec tion, which is in a plane slightly above the surface of the base, thus insuring cutting entirely through the potato.

The incline 15 at the side is intended to raise the lever as it slides from the trip 14, the intention being, after slicing the potato, to swing the lever over the incline, and thus brush the potatoes from the base into a receptacle placed near at hand to receive the sliced potatoes.

A screen or a shield might be placed over the frame and knives to prevent the cut pieces of potato from bouncing from the frame when out.

The knives or cutters might be in any approved form, according to the size and shape of the slices to be formed, and other more or less slight modifications might be made in the form and arrangement of the several parts without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention; hence I do not wish to be limited to the exact construction herein set forth, but

I claim:

1. A potato slicer, comprising a base, a lever hingedly connected therewith, said lever having a cutter-frame connected therewith, and cutters extending across the center of said cutter-frame in position to cut and slice a potato supported upon the base, and an incline extending laterally, over. which the lever is swung, whereby to lift the lever and brush the potatoes from the base.

2.-The combination with a base having an orifice therethrough at which point the potato to be out is located, a post or bolt, a

bracket pivoted thereto, and a hand-lever pivoted to the bracket and having a substantially O-shaped cutter-frame formed therein, and cutters secured to and extending across said. cutter-frame, and adapted to slice the potato held located at the orifice in the base.

3. A base having an orifice therethrough, a plug extending loosely through the orifice for the support of the potato, a treadle pivoted to the base and extending beneath the orifice and having a trip on one end, and a lever hingedly connected with the base and having knives or cutters in position to slice the potato resting on the plug, and the trip in position to be struck by the lever and raise the plug with the final lowering of the lever.

4. The combination witha base having an orifice therethrough, a plug fitted loosely therein, a treadle pivoted in position to support and operate the plug, and a lever hingedly connected with the base and carrying knives in position to cut the article placed between said knives and the plug, and one end of the treadle in the direct path of th lever, whereby when the lever engages the treadle, it causes the knives and plug to simultaneously move toward each other.

5. The combination of a base having an orifice therethrough, a treadle pivoted beneath the base with one end extending below the orifice, and the other having a trip extending above the base, a post carried by the base, a bracket pivoted to the post, a

hand-lever pivoted to the bracket, said lever having an enlarged cutter-frame connected therewith, cutters carried by said cutterframe, the lever extending in position to strike the trip as it is lowered, whereby to swing the treadle, and a plug loosely resting in the orifice on the treadle, which is raised by the treadle when the trip is struck by the lever, whereby the potato is raised to a plane above the surface of the base.

6. The combination of a base having an orifice therethrough, a treadle pivoted beneath the base with one end extending below the orifice, and the other having a trip extending above the case, a post carried by the base, a bracket pivoted to the post, a handlever pivoted to the bracket, said lever having an enlarged cutterfra1ne connected therewith, cutters carried by said cutterframe, the lever extending in position to strike the trip as it is lowered, whereby to swing the treadle, a plug loosely resting in the orifice on the treadle, which is raised by the treadle when the trip is struck by the lever, whereby the potato is raised to plane above the surface of the base, and an incline eXtending laterally from the base over which the lever is moved, whereby to raise or lower when the lever is swung laterally, or brush the potato from the base and plug.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

BENJAMIN P. COBB.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). C. 

